Pope meeting angers abuse activists

The Catholic Church has angered prominent sex abuse activists after they were left out of a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and a small group of abuse victims in Sydney this morning.

The Pope listened to the stories of the victims and offered them consolation during a mass in the chapel of St Mary's Cathedral.

Melbourne couple Anthony and Christine Foster, whose two daughters were repeatedly raped by a Melbourne priest, say that neither they nor the victims group Broken Rites were told about or invited to the meeting.

"No we weren't aware of this meeting," Mr Foster told ABC Newsradio.

"There were some rumours yesterday and it seems to have been conducted without any knowledge of either ourselves or Broken Rites.

"Broken Rites, as a group representing victims, applied for a meeting with the Pope two months ago and have not had any response to that.

"We are very disappointed that people who I think the public have come to accept represent the views of victims have not been included in this meeting."

The Archdiocese of Sydney says its Professional Standards Office nominated three abuse representatives to be present at the mass, which was held ahead of the Pope's departure from World Youth Day events.

"It seems absolutely incredible that the Catholic Church would ignore the views of people who've been articulate in putting forward the needs and requirements of all victims and simply meet with a few victims who may well not be able to present the views of all victims," Mr Foster said.

"Its not realistic to meet all victims, no.

"But I think it would have been quite realistic to at least give us the courtesy of telling us whether he was going to meet with us or not, and to certainly listen to our views so that we could help the Church move forward.

"We want to see a strong united Church that can speak for all its members and the public and put forward views that are respected in the community.

"When this sort of thing happens, they can't be respected."

Chris MacIsaac from Broken Rites says her members are upset that they have missed out on meeting the Pope.

"There wouldn't be all this hullabulloo and people putting up their hands complaining if the process worked properly," she said.

"You can always select hand-picked people who are happy with something.

"Nothing's ever totally wrong or totally right. But if they want to fix this they must listen to the people who have grievance with it."

Apology welcomed

Meanwhile a man who allegedly suffered sexual abuse at a New South Wales north coast youth centre in the 1980s says he welcomes the apology which the Pope made to abuse victims on Saturday.

Mackay resident Eric Fleissig says he was abused on a regular basis by Father Paul Rex Brown at the Futcher House youth refuge in Tweed Heads between 1982 and 1985.

Father Brown died in 2005.

Mr Fleissig says while he wanted a face-to-face meeting with the Pope, the apology on behalf of the Catholic Church was a step in the right direction.

"Basically the core of the Church has apologised and recognised the wrongs of the past which will go towards healing for us victims," he said.

"But I am afraid that he's going to leave Australia with his apology and a lot more needs to be done."